Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A semi-brief history of D&D and some other RPGs: 1967-1979
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="grodog" data-source="post: 7647448" data-attributes="member: 1613"><p>I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but I do agree that it remains pretty obscure. It did have some supplements and adventures published for it, so it's not like it was a '90s one-book wonder <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, and unfortunately it seems like we won't see an updated HW in the future. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There are numerous errors in the 30th anniversary book, so I'd be very cautious about relying on it it too heavily; the 25th anniversary book was based on an in-house-only 20th anniversary book, and is a better source.</p><p></p><p>Another good source: Robin Laws' and Michelle Nephew's [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Years-Gen-Con-Robin-Laws/dp/1589780973/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271559241&sr=1-11"]40 Years of Gencon[/ame] retrospective.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Chainmail and OD&D were printed through the early '80s, so I'm pretty sure they outlasted Swords & Spells, at least in terms of sales/popularity.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Quite a bit, actually. TSR published many boardgames and wargames through ~1980, among them:</p><p></p><p>- 1974: BioOne (a booklet of hit location charts)</p><p>- 1975: Dungeon! boardgame, Fight in the Skies (aka, Dawn Patrol)</p><p>- 1976: Lankhmar boardgame, Battle of the Five Armies (another unlicensed Tolkien game...)</p><p>- 1978: Tom Wham's short-box versions of Awful Green Things from Outer Space and Snits Revenge</p><p>- 1979: Divine Right, one of TSR's best non-D&D titles ever published</p><p></p><p>A good source for more info here is ToT @ <a href="http://www.tomeoftreasures.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29" target="_blank">Tome of Treasures :: View Forum - TSR Games</a> as well as the Acaeum wiki @ <a href="http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Main Page - Acaeum</a> (in particular the <a href="http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Category:TSR" target="_blank">TSR entry</a>)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I own a contemporary photocopy of a Guidon Chainmail's Fantasy Supplement (from a 2nd printing in 1972), but I don't own a 1st edition Guidon Chainmail, which as far as I know dates from 1971, not 1969: where's the '69 coming from Dave?---is that based on the rules appearing in The Domesday Book at some point?? All that said, Paul "The_Collectors_Trove" Stormberg has done extensive (and expensive!) research on the printings of Chainmail, so I'll double-check these facts with him too.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Very reasonable <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Happy to help!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="grodog, post: 7647448, member: 1613"] I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but I do agree that it remains pretty obscure. It did have some supplements and adventures published for it, so it's not like it was a '90s one-book wonder :D Yeah, and unfortunately it seems like we won't see an updated HW in the future. There are numerous errors in the 30th anniversary book, so I'd be very cautious about relying on it it too heavily; the 25th anniversary book was based on an in-house-only 20th anniversary book, and is a better source. Another good source: Robin Laws' and Michelle Nephew's [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Years-Gen-Con-Robin-Laws/dp/1589780973/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271559241&sr=1-11"]40 Years of Gencon[/ame] retrospective. Chainmail and OD&D were printed through the early '80s, so I'm pretty sure they outlasted Swords & Spells, at least in terms of sales/popularity. Quite a bit, actually. TSR published many boardgames and wargames through ~1980, among them: - 1974: BioOne (a booklet of hit location charts) - 1975: Dungeon! boardgame, Fight in the Skies (aka, Dawn Patrol) - 1976: Lankhmar boardgame, Battle of the Five Armies (another unlicensed Tolkien game...) - 1978: Tom Wham's short-box versions of Awful Green Things from Outer Space and Snits Revenge - 1979: Divine Right, one of TSR's best non-D&D titles ever published A good source for more info here is ToT @ [url=http://www.tomeoftreasures.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29]Tome of Treasures :: View Forum - TSR Games[/url] as well as the Acaeum wiki @ [url=http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Main_Page]Main Page - Acaeum[/url] (in particular the [URL="http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Category:TSR"]TSR entry[/URL]) I own a contemporary photocopy of a Guidon Chainmail's Fantasy Supplement (from a 2nd printing in 1972), but I don't own a 1st edition Guidon Chainmail, which as far as I know dates from 1971, not 1969: where's the '69 coming from Dave?---is that based on the rules appearing in The Domesday Book at some point?? All that said, Paul "The_Collectors_Trove" Stormberg has done extensive (and expensive!) research on the printings of Chainmail, so I'll double-check these facts with him too. Very reasonable :D Happy to help! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A semi-brief history of D&D and some other RPGs: 1967-1979
Top